The 2017-2018 season has been a bumpy road for the Kentucky basketball team, but Saturday’s loss to Texas A&M marked the new low-point for the season.

The loss gave UK its third consecutive loss, which is the first time in the John Calipari-era that the Cats have lost three straight. UK looked as if it would avoid extending the losing streak with a good performance in the first half, only to see everything unravel after the break. 

After leading by four at halftime, UK would be outscored by the Aggies 59-44 to complete the 85-74 loss. Texas A&M’s 59 first-half points was the most points UK has given up in a half all season and the most they’ve given up in a half since early 2008.

Recap: UK loses to Texas A&M to drop third straight

The Aggies opened the half on a 26-6 run after UK ended the first half on an 8-0 run. Not long after the second half opening run, the Aggies would extend their lead to 20, and the lead hovered around there until a late comeback attempt from the Cats that fell 11 points short. 

A lot of A&M’s points came off easy and open shot attempts as UK’s defense did little to nothing to stop the bleeding. The Aggies scored 20 points in the paint in the second half, most of which were dunks, and shot 7-9 from behind the three-point line. 

Plain and simple, this was one of UK’s most disappointing defensive performances all season long. The defense is what kept the Cats in the game before halftime, only to see the game slip away from their fingers by letting the Aggies score however they wanted.

So where do the Cats go from here? History has already been made with Calipari’s first three-game losing streak at UK, and that streak has a good chance of extending to four when they travel to Auburn on Feb. 14. 

With selection Sunday one month away, there appears to be no quick fixes to right UK’s ship. The defense still gives up lapses that make it near impossible to win games, and the offense is still searching for a player that can consistently be a threat.

Until UK can make these corrections, the Cats will continue to be vulnerable in any game they play. There are many corrections to be made, but the first thing UK needs to fix is its confidence, and the best way to do that is win a game in arguably the toughest conference in college basketball this season.